Extremely Quiet and Incredibly Talented
by Paranoid Emo Ranger
Summary: Summary: A nine year old Alpha is found,he has synesthesia but instead of turning one senses on and turning the others off he can process smell, touch, sight, taste, and sound at the same time.Chapter 3 is up!
1. Michael

**Summary:** A nine year old Alpha is found, he has enhanced synesthesia but instead of turning one senses on and turning the others off he can process smell, touch, sight, taste, and sound at the same time.

CHAPTER ONE: MICHAEL

The first day was always the worst for Michael, he sometimes thought that summer would last longer like the book he read about thrones and summers lasting a decade and winters a liftime. The bullies after school would gang up on him again, and the fact that public transportation scares him was no help either. Michael was lost, he had no friends a school and he did want to make friends but the other kids did not like him, he does not even know why. Michael's favorite subject in school was science, he loved learning about space and exploration most of all, and plants, cells, the way that the brain works. He loved learning about Italy, and learning Italian on his own, his favorite food is penne boscaiola that he learned to cook himself because his mother was always out. He has a dog named Alpha, which means acceleration, the first variable. Michael does not like noisy places and it aggitates him everytime during gym class or during school meeting in the gym and sports.

Mr. Gummer taught art. Art class was one of the activities that Michael enjoyed because it was quiet and it allowed him to concentrate on his work. Mr. Gummer always told him how good he was at art and that he did not fail in surprising him everytime he created not just another work of art but a work of genius; simple things that most people would not take notice in. He liked that.

Dr. Lee Rosen stood outside the principal's door, he was an old friend and both men have not seen each other in almost thirty-five years since high school Rosen was sure that John Allen did not expect to see himself be a principal back in high school. Rosen knocked on the door and opened it only to see the other man rise up from his chair and shake his hand. It has indeed been a long time.

"I'm sorry I troubled you Lee but this boy his got something going on." Principal John Allen said, he was a thin man, much like the neurologist himself but shorter and he looked somewhat younger, he had thick rimmed glasses on. "He's a little eccentric and precaucious. I'd like you to check on him, we had psychologists see him before, he says that he could tell what people ate recently I don't know." Allen added and picked up the telephone. "Martha, can you please bring me Michael's file please? Okay, thank you." He hung up and cleared his throat. "He's a good kid. He gets in a lot of trouble though especially in gym class, he doesn't like loud places, or sports."

The door opened and Martha handed the files to the principal.

"Thank you Martha." Said Allen as he handed over the files to Rosen. "I want you to take a look at this."

"Alright, would you like me to see him?" asked Rosen as he flipped the pages of the folder. "Excels in math and science, likes chemistry I'm not surprised at all." He said while Allen looked on. "I honestly don't see why you have to hand this file over to me Jack, but if it's alright i'd like to see this boy."

"Okay Lee, he's in art class now...I think." Allen added. "Thanks Lee, come on I'll show you where he is."

Michael wanted to use some violet paint but his tube had ran out and he had a hard time talking to others so he took one of Stacy Freeman's when she was not looking. He did not know if lying was bad, but he knew that he was not stealing, and he would return it back to where it belonged. Michael was sure that someparts of the horse nebula looked like it had some violet in them, maybe it was red.

Dr. Rosen saw all this happening and he smiled to himself not quite seeing any of his patients a little too shy, maybe Rachel but he could not see her not talking to someone out of shyness that she can't ask permission.

"Where's my violet tube? Has anyone-Michael! You stole it!" she screamed out in horror like it was a mortal sin. "Mr. Gummer! Mr. Gummer! Michael stole from me! He's a thief!" she shrieked and the teacher tried to make sense of the matter at hand.

"Michael did you steal Stacy's tube?" The boy shook his head.

"I was going to return it Mr. Gummer, it's not the same thing!" The little boy replied, Dr. Rosen could see Michael's defense mechanism working its way through.

"They are, it doesn't matter if the tube is back in Stacy's position but it matters weather there would still be the same amount of paint in it left for her to use." The teacher was calm, the neurologist noticed this he kenw exactly what he was doing but what happened next was unexpected.

"You're a thief Michael! You need to apologize right now!" said the little girl in pigtails. "I'm telling my mommy when she gets here!" Then Stacy took hold of Michael's nebula painting and smudged her paintbrush all over it. The other children grabbed their paint tubes and smeared it all over his painting and they were all laughing. "Crook! Crook! Crook!" they all chanted.

He was in shock, he could not believe that this was still happening it was straight out of Lord of the Flies. He froze inside unable to move.

Michael covered his ears with his hands and screamed loudly while the art teacher got outside after noticing them.

"Sir I am so sorry, it's happened again." Said the art teacher.

Rosen turned to his friend. "You mean this has happened before?"

"Yes sir, and not just art class." Replied Gummer. "The first day of school and this happens."

"I think you should dismiss them early Tom." Said the principal. "This is Dr. Rosen, the neurologist I told you about."

The teacher went back inside.

"Class dismissed!" the students filed out immediately. "Don't forget to wash your hands!" he reminded them.

The two men entered the room and found Michael in a corner with his hands still covering his ears but he was no longer screaming, his face was red and his eyes had unwiped tears rolling down his face. Rosen crouched down and faced the boy.

"Michael, I need you to listen to me, please don't cover your ears." He took the boy's hands away from his ears. "I can't talk to you if you can't hear me." The doctor took out a handkerchief from his jacket pocket and wiped away Michael's tears.

"Who are you? Why are you here?" Michael asked curiously.

"I am Dr. Lee Rosen,and I'm here to help you." The word help was never common in school or at home but today was a different day.

"Okay." The boy replied still not sure of why the older man wanted to help.

"Now why don't we stand up and take a seat if you'd like." Michael did so easily. "Good."

"Why are you helping me? Stacy Freeman said I'm a thief." The boy said. "Why would you want to help a thief?" he asked, his head was spinning with multiple questions to ask the doctor.

"Because everyone has the right to be understood." He ruffled the boys dark brown hair and smiled at him.

He looks like he wants to help but maybe just for today like all the other people who asked me questions after school. Michael thought to himself, oddly enough he smiled back at the older man.


	2. A Gift

CHAPTER TWO: A GIFT

Michael was in awe of what Dr. Rosen had been talking about, he never thought that one has the right to be understood. He explained to Michael that it was important for him to be himself but with a little help he could ask permission next time he wants to borrow something. Dr. Rosen said many things some of which the boy could not understand, he talked about people called Alphas.

"I named my dog Alpha because it means acceleration and Alpha can run really fast Dr. Rosen." Rosen smiled, the kid was a little hyper now, he knew that each Alpha abilty has a downside and this was Michael's a little bit of everything from Rachel's shyness, and Gary's honesty to blurt everything out or maybe even perhaps Cameron's defense mechanism; it was quite a surprise.

Michael was suddenly distracted by something in the room

"There's a bumblebee outside Dr. Rosen." He told the older man.

The doctor went over to the window and there he saw a bumblebee black and yellow stripes. He walked back to the boy.

"How did you do that?How did you know it was a bumblebee?"

"I can see things, I can hear them, see them." Michael replied. 'Why can't you?"

"Michael you're not like other people, I think it would be best if you paid me a visit in my office." Said the doctor, out of curiousity he asked. "Who picks you up from school?"

"I walk home, public transportation agitates me and scares me and my mom isn't always around." _Public transportation agitates me and scares me._

"I can talk to his mother Lee, she seems to be in a lot of business trips nowadays but when it comes to Michael's well-being she'll definitely cooperate." Allen said to his friend.

"Where's your father?"

"He's not around." Replied Michael. "I never met him."

"Who takes care of you when you're mother is on business trips?" asked Rosen.

"I take care of myself." The boy said. "The other kids don't know that I could hear them stabbing me in the back, I think I should do something about that." He looked down. "You have big feet."

"Someday you will too."Rosen said with a smile when the boy took out a camera from his backpack.

"Can I take your picture? It's for my Adventure book, would you like to see it?" he never let anyone see his Adventure book before not even his mother. Michael took it out of his back pack and handed it to the doctor.

Rosen flipped through the pages of the book, it contained pictures of people from all walks of life. The concept was a fascinating idea.

"I'm doing a project, I'm trying to find out if I'm the only one Alpha in the world." Michael said and pointed to the picture of the person on the page. "That's Mark Plummer, he works as an accountant but what he wants to do is go mountaineering and climb Mt. Everest, can I take your picture now?" asked Michael.

"I assure you I'm not an Alpha." The doctor said assuring him.

"But can I take it anyway?" he asked and Rosen nodded.

**SATURDAY 8:30 am**

"Mom Dr. Rosen said he's going to pick me upif you want you could come with me." He said as he was tying his shoe laces. His backpack was filled with simple things, a bag of red gummy bears, a surgical mask, a telescope he made for himself and his pills. His mother, Jennifer stared at him, her eyes had bags under them. "Are you coming or not?" he asked.

"You go ahead sweetie, I'm a little tired from my trip and don't forget to call me when you get there." She replied and he left her room. "I love you." But Michael could not hear her.

"Dr. Rosen where are we? We should be on our way to work this isn't the way to work why are we stopping? Why are we still in my neighborhood?" Gary Bell asked his mentor while Rachel Pirzad was busy texting Nina. "Rachel you have to stop texting because we're not on our way to work, the car stopped." He added. Gary was very particular when it came to routine.

"Gary there's a boy who is an Alpha and I'm picking him up to run some tests on him and possibly an early therapy session."

"What does he do Dr. Rosen?" asked Rachel, she stopped texting now.

"His ablility is like yours Rachel, but he can turn all of his on at the same time." He replied. "He's a little precaucious, eccentric."

The three of them saw a little boy come outside of the house, and Rosen hurried out of the car to greet the boy.

"Good morning Michael, is your mother coming?"

"No, she's tired from her trip but she said that I should call her when we get there." Michael looked at the other two who were in the car as the doctor opened the car door for him.

"Hello Michael, I'm Rachel it's a pleasure to meet you." Rachel said, she turned to Gary. "Gary you should introduce yourself."

"Na-ah." He tugged on his wristband.

"What did I do Dr. Rosen?" asked Michael.

"DCIS you don't ask the questions we do!" Gary held out his badge and Michael snatched it away from him. "Hey that's mine! Dr. Rosen said that it's bad if you take things away from people without asking for their permission."

"You're name is Gary Bell." Said Michael. "Do you know Nurse Bell? Nurse Sandra Bell?"

The car was moving now and they were on their way to work at last.

"She's my mom, how do you know her?" replied Gary.

"Nurse Bell was our school nurse for a year once, I always see her after the other kids gang up on me." He said this as though it was no big deal.

Rachel and Dr. Rosen glanced at each other.

**AT THE OFFICE…**

"What is taking them so long?" asked Bill with his coffee mug in hand.

"Rosen told me there's a new Alpha, really young." Nina said as she cleaned her mug.

"Really? This is going to be interesting." Bill said taking a sip of his coffee.

"Finally the doc's taking a break from finding psychos." Cameron said sitting opposite to Bill. "I still can't believe about the whole Marcus Ayers thing."

"Which part can't you believe? That he was a psycho?" asked Bill as Nina walked away.

"The doc keeps saying at therapy that we should let go of the past but he can't, I think he has a hard time letting go of things than all of us combined." Cameron replied.

"It comes with the job description Hicks."

The door opened Gary, Rachel and Rosen appeared with a little boy no younger than nine. He was thin, and had a backpack with him.

"Good morning Bill, good morning Nina." Rosen greeted. "Good morning Cameron."

"Morning sir."

"Good morning Dr. Rosen."

"Morning doc."

All three were looking at the boy.

"This is Michael Ranft." Rosen introduced the boy who looked down on his shoes.


	3. Therapy and I Love Yous

CHAPTER THREE: THERAPY and I LOVE YOUS

"Michael you should greet them, Dr. Rosen said that it's impolite to not greet people even if I don't greet them but still…"

"Gary…" began the doctor.

"What? I'm being mature like you told me to." Replied the transducer and everyone gave a small grin including the little boy.

"Why don't we go to the MRI room. " He turned to Rachel. "This way young man." He told the boy and he followed the older man and Rachel.

"That was a little awkward." Said Cameron.

"Man, I could feel Rosen's paternal instincts kicking in." said Nina. "Have you ever felt it Bill when you were sent to us?" asked Nina. "When I first started working for Rosen I thought I was going to suffocate from all the rules, no late night drinking, no partying, don't drink and drive, don't do drugs, don't sleep after eating."

"Overprotective dads are too much for me, glad mine wasn't one." Cameron said. "But my mom! Damn!"

"My mom doesn't let me eat fast food so I have to eat what she makes me." Gary cut in. "I wish I had a dad."

Bill, Nina and Cameron all looked at each other.

**MRI Room…**

Michael looked at the MRI scanner uncomfortably, as the doctor closed the door behind them.

"What do I do?" he asked looking up at the older man.

"Well, all you need to do is lay down and will begin the scan." The doctor replied in his too relaxed manner.

"I can't, it's dangerous." Rosen could hear Rachel chuckle a little from behind him.

"I promise you that it's not, it won't last more than five minutes." Rosen assured him with a smile.

"Okay." Michael replied and took off his bag, his jacket and his beenie. "Will it hurt?"

"No it won't."

Rachel and Michael went to the room where the MRI scanner was and the woman helped him up to the table.

"You can lay down Michael." She said and was about to but he noticed the straps.

"There are straps." He told the woman. "Are you sure it won't hurt?"

"Yes Michael." She replied and so the boy laid down and Rachel strapped him in.

The table moved and it frightened him that Rachel could hear his heart beating faster.

"Just relax Michael." Dr. Rosen said from the other room.

Michael could hear the sound that the scanner was making and it made him nervous and jumpy. The sounds were getting louder and louder and he noticed that he was starting to sweat. He held his breath.

"It's getting louder!" the boy complained. "The sound is getting louder!" and then he screamed.

Bill, Nina, Hicks and Gary rushed inside to see what was happening.

"Dr. Rosen I think we should stop it." Rachel said from behind. "He's only nine!"

"No, if he doesn't go through with this how can he ever learn to control his abilities." Replied the doctor, Rachel stared at the man for a long time and realized that this was one of his downsides pushing people to do what he expects them to regardless of the outcome. "It's for his own good, Rachel." And too much tough love. He had used this technique several times but lying was the one he used the most.

When the sound stopped Michael was now in tears, he could see Dr. Rosen get inside to help him with the straps.

"You said it wasn't going to hurt me!" said Michael now covering his ears.

"I know and I'm sorry." He apologized but his insides were telling him he was not. "That was it, there won't be another scan okay?"

"I don't like it here anymore, I want to go home!" Michael screamed.

"Just calm down son, no one here wants to harm you." He told the boy in all honesty. "We just want to help you with your abilities, to control it so you won't have a hard time later on." He placed a hand on Michael's shoulder for comfort and immediately the boy sobbed on to Rosen's shirt. "Why don't we get out of here?" and Michael nodded in agreement, Rosen got him off the table and placed him down. "All this useless crying, it won't help on the way." He told Michael with a smile.

Michael picked up his jacket, his backpack and his beannie and he followed the doctor outside with the rest of the team looking on.

"Gary may I speak with you in my office?"

"Okay Dr. Rosen." Replied the younger man as he followed them to the doctor's office.

It was the farthest office from Nina's. When they got inside Rosen closed the door which surprised Gary because he always had his door open.

"Gary would you like to spend time with Michael?" He asked the transducer.

"Why me? Why not Nina or Rachel?" the young man rebuffed. "And Michael's a bad person he doesn't like to be social."

"I'm not bad! I'm just not…normal."

Rosen walked over to his desk.

"Well Gary, you two are from the same neighborhood and it would help Michael a lot."

"Like the way you and the others helped me?" asked Gary, and Rosen nodded.

"Yes, and since you are the youngest in the team your influence on Michael would be that of an older brother." He told Gary and it made the young man smile as he tugged on his wristband.

"Okay." Then he turned to Michael. "but I don't want Michael up on my grill Dr. Rosen." He added and Michael burst into a peal of laughter.

"I don't know what that means but it's funny!" said the boy and Rosen tried hard to keep himself from laughing.

"I only want what's best for you because you have so much potential." Said the doctor. "If you wish you can consult your mother about a few therapy sessions."

Michael looked troubled at the mention of mother in the sentence.

"Sometimes I think she wonders why I don't say 'I love you' to her as much as I should." Then there was that guilty look that was in a face so young that reminded the doctor of someone else.

"I know." Then he turned to Gary. "Gary would you like Michael to stay with you in your office?" he asked the young man who was flipping his hand now. "Gary could see electromagnetic waves."

"That's cool!" Michael exclaimed his eyes lit up.

"No, my office is too small for two people to be in." He turned to the nine-year old. "We should play that game Dr. Rosen invented called Pop!" suggested Gary. "It's a game that helps you conquer social fears, and it's good and it's very easy." He smiled. "all you have to do is say a word out loud and open your palms wide like this!" he opened his palms up wide to show Michael. "And you need to say the word out loud too like CELLPHONE!" Michael covered his ears. "It's good because it lets out all your, all your emotions."

He remembered that night in college when he made up that game for his autistic roommate who took up computer programming. He was back from the protest and he found his roommate wrecking havoc in their dorm room and he suddenly invented the game, he was under the influence of something called Blue Magic so he named the game Pop!

**OUTSIDE DR. ROSEN'S OFFICE**

"This is actually Gary's favorite game, we used to play Pop! a lot when he first came to us." Said Nina as she and the others pressed their ears through the glass door, the insides covered by the blinds.

"I don't get why you need to eavesdrop on people I can hear them just fine." Said Rachel from behind the other three. "Guys come on! You could just ask me what they're talking about in there." Suddenly the door opened and her three co-workers lost their balance and fell to the floor. Bill hit the ground face first, Nina tangled on her heels but Cameron was quick enough to use his hands to keep himself from hitting the ground completely.

"We have some visitors." Said their shrink.

"It was Nina's idea sir." Said Bill as he straightened himself up, Nina was still rattled by what happened.

"Actually doc, it was Bill's idea."

"I don't care whose idea it was, if you'd like to join us you are welcome to it."

Please review guys! I'm welcome to anything…


	4. Lazy Afternoons and An Essay

CHAPTER FOUR: Lazy Afternoons and An Essay

Gary and Michael got along just fine after they played Pop! Although Michael did not participate he enjoyed the silliness of the game. He had taken out his red gummy bears to share with the rest of the team and they were amazed by how eccentric he was.

"There are two-thousand five hundred and sixty one red gummy bears, I counted them just in case." Michael said and everyone looked at him and then at Rosen for an explanation.

"It's an impulse." He told the team.

"I bought them yesterday with my allowance from January to June my mom says that I should always have money with me just in case I decide to buy my own things or decide to take public transportation." He told the team, Dr. Rosen in the background nodded for him to continue on. "I don't like loud noises or sports, it's dangerous." He added.

"What's wrong with public transportation?" asked Bill.

"It's loud and it makes me panic." He replied. "That's why I walk home."

"Do you have any friends in school?" asked Nina.

"No."

"What do you do when you're all alone?" Cameron asked.

"I go exploring in the city when my mom isn't around she's always on business trips." he replied. "Or make a map or cook penne boscaiola, it's Italian." He did not want to emphasize on his mission to find others like him.

"Sounds fun." Cameron said sarcastically.

"Aren't you a little too young to be out on your own? And it could be very dangerous in the city." Rachel asked.

"You're asking too many questions, I can't think clearly." He replied, resigning from answering another question. Michael looked at all the pictures in Dr. Rosen's office, using his enhanced vision, there was the painting of the woman in red, a picture of a little girl with dark hair, below it was picture of a teenage boy with copper brown hair, he was smiling, and beside it was an old photograph of a woman who would have looked pretty if she had her copper brown hair fixed, next to her was a man who had shoulder length hair and a beard and wore a headband around his head, Michael could see that they were both laughing about something. "The little girl with dark hair is pretty, is she your daughter?"

"Yes." The doctor replied.

"Do you still see her?" Michael asked again.

"Not anymore."

"Maybe she wonders why you don't say 'I love you' as much as you should." Said Michael, he was a good listener Rosen gave him that.

"I think you and Gary should go and make plans as to what you should do every Saturday if your mother approves of therapy sessions." He changed the subject immediately not looking forward to the stares and questions concerning his pesonal life from the others. Michael and Gary went out and so did the others without another word.

**In the Conference Room**

"Hey Michael I don't think we can see each other during the weekdays because I have work to do and I don't get home until night time." Said Gary getting himself a glass of water.

Michael noticed that Rachel was looking at him.

"Why are you looking at me that way?" he asked her.

"What do you mean?"

"Like I did something wrong." The boy said, but Rachel did not give an answer.

"Hey I know you're just a kid and all okay but it's not nice to butt into other peoples lives." said Bill who was sitting across from him.

"Bill don't, just stop it." Said Nina.

"He's just a kid." Cameron added.

"What? He needs to learn how to respect other people!" said the agent who stood up.

"Just stop it Bill, please." Said Rachel and everyone went back to normal but the tension was still there.

"So I think we should just do things together if your mom says it's okay for you to go here." Gary spoke to break the silence surrounding the room.

"Okay."

**On the way home**

Dr. Rosen did not talk when he took him home at five o'clock in the afternoon, he just drove the car. Michael glanced at him from time to time to see if he was alright, he could see that the doctor was solemn and he could see the older man's cheekbones move like he was biting his tongue the entire time it was excrutiatingly quiet and he was the one feeling uncomfortable again. The boy could tell that he instructed the others not to come with him.

"If I go to therapy will you promise that I'll be normal? That I'll get better?" he broke the uneasy silence.

"Can you imagine a world if everyone in it is normal? It would be boring wouldn't it?" the doctor replied, he glanced at the boy for a moment and then concentrated on the road again.

"I guess so." The way the older man spoke with words that contradict the world and everything in it was a relief to him, he liked that.

"You'll get better."

"Like it will go away?"

"It won't go away, it's an integral part of you." Rosen replied when they reached Michael's house, his mother was waiting for him outside the porch, and the car stopped.

"I'm sorry about what I said earlier, about your daughter." Michael apologized. "Do you want a hug?"

"That won't be necessary." Said the doctor with an amused smile, and Michael found it hard to tell if he was lying or if he was telling the truth. "I should ask your mother if you could get therapy."

When they got out he was surprised by how welcoming his mother was, that she immediately accepted Rosen's offer, she said that she was going to pay for everything but the doctor said that it was unecessary. He said his goodbye to the boy and his mother but he was unsure if she just wanted Michael outside the house.

**Monday**

"Okay before I dismiss you I want you all to write an essay about anything you can think of, absolutely anything from skyscrapers to summer vacations anything by next Monday, and I need you all to read it aloud for you and your classmates, teachers and parents during the last day of English week which is two weeks from now." His english teacher Mr. Ives said and in reality he really was English, the other children thought that he talked funny but Michael thought differently, he did not think he talked funny at all. Mr. Ives just could not help himself but talk the way he always does. Everyone rose up from their chairs to go to the next class. "Michael, I want you to stay behind please." He said, this was going to be one of his speeches again about not worrying about what the other kids think. "I really hope that you'll show the other kids your true potential, because in the writing composition assignment I gave yours was the one that struck me the most." Mr. Ives gave him a smile.

"Okay." That was always the reply he always gave, because if he said fine it would ot be appropriate and if he said yes he would be lying because he was not going to make that essay.


End file.
